My NEW body transformation commandments

So, with a hiatus from slow carbing for the time being...probably around 2 weeks and if it goes well, maybe more...I do need to sort out some sort of eating plan to keep me going towards my getting ripped goals!


I won't be counting calories (still!) but I will be monitoring my protein, carb and fat intake properly. I will be aiming for a ratio of protein:carbs:fat of 40:30:30 on training days and

Whoops....

Ok so I have been terrible at updating this blog.

To be honest I think I am going to take a short term (couple of weeks) break from the slow carb eating plan. This last week a couple of things have made me want to step back from it for a bit and maybe re-visit at another time.

First off it was just my results this week - 11lb in a week. I have gone from 162lb on Saturday morning last week to 173lb on Saturday morning this week. Now I know I am meant to go on inches rather than weight - but 11lb in a week! Puts me 4lb above my starting weight. And I still went ahead and did my cheat day so if I got on the scales now I would probably be another 3-4lb up on top of that.

I could accept that (somehow...) if it hadn't been for my 2nd reason for taking a break from it. I had horrible indigestion on Wednesday and Thursday and must have been in the bathroom on at least a dozen separate occasions. You would have thought I would have lost SOME weight through that anyway. But I felt so uncomfortable those couple of days that I kind of developed a stigma for the plan so need a couple of weeks or so to re-boot and re-assess.

I will still be eating healthy throughout my "break" and I will see how I feel. I'll post it up on here as well, and I think a lot of the basic principles of slow carb eating will still be applied - protein-rich, lots of veg, repeating meals....but I will make a few modifications which will probably bring me into the more conventional fat loss/muscle gain school of thought.

Let's do this!

Week 4, days 2 and 3

Not sure what happened to me all of a sudden but last couple of days I just haven't been into my slow carbing. I mean I have been following the plan but it has been in a very very lazy, approximate, half-@ssed sort of way.

I have had very little appetite these last couple of days and been sort of force feeding myself to get to around 1500 calories.

Don't know why my head just hasn't been "right"

Stevia??

If I remember reading correctly, Tim Ferriss generally advises against artificial sweeteners but mentions Stevia as being the one of choice for slow carbers if they are really that intent on taking it.

I didn't think anything of it - I figured you know, drop Splenda and get on to the Stevia and satisfy those sweet tooth cravings.

Week 4, day 1

Cheat day of course!!

I completely forgot to take any sort of supplementation which was a bit reckless of me but I think it made sense as I was allegedly supposed to be taking a break one day a week anyway and hadn't done that yet.

So how did cheat day go?

Breakfast:
- 3 egg whites and 1 whole egg cooked in a bit of ghee
- Rocket salad
- Can of hot & spicy beans

Bootcamp session

Breakfast 2:
- 80g porridge, 200ml semi skimmed milk, 2 scoops of whey protein powder
- 95g bag of chocolate covered

Week 3 results

I did do these first thing yesterday morning, before my cheat day started in earnest but forgot to post.

To be honest I had no real movement in inches - a lot of very small fluctuations on various parts of my body - probably just from discrepancies in taking my own measurements.

I did lose 1lb though, so total loss of 7lb. I certainly won't be complaining about that! Wish it was more of course, but a pound off is 2 pounds lower than a pound on!

I am thinking about switching over to doing geek to freak after a couple of weeks but I'm not 100% on that. I'm starting some out and out resistance work in the coming week and want to see how that impacts before I consider changing my nutrition again.

Week 3 macros

I tracked my calories for the last week, just to test how things have been going:

• Sat 15 Jan: 5399 cal, 269 protein, 547g carbs, 246g fat (Ultimate cheat day!)
• Sun 16 Jan: 2109 cal, 225g protein, 122g carbs, 84g fat (not enough legumes)
• Mon 17 Jan: 2053 cal, 179g protein, 194g carbs, 72g fat (just about right I think)
• Tue 18 Jan: 1985 cal, 191g protein, 179g carbs, 68g fat (think I got today spot on)
• Wed 19 Jan: 2268 cal, 208g protein, 87g carbs, 123g fat (not enough legumes I think)
• Thu 20 Jan: 2572 cal, 245g protein, 205g carbs, 104g fat (almond binge)
• Fri 21 Jan: 2128 cal, 240g protein, 82g carbs, 93g fat (too much protein, lack of legumes)

Average: 2645 cal, 222g protein, 202g carbs, 113g fat

So overall I am just about on course - my trainer wants me getting in around 2700 calories a day so I am averaging that fine at the minute. I am definitely getting enough protein and carbs over the course of the week. Fat should be a bit lower - this is due to high peanut butter and almond intake, which I need to cut back on.

But so far I think on balance, everything is working well. We will see what the results say tomorrow morning at my weigh in.